This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, which claimed the lives of millions of people. With the help of Hungary’s most popular online photoarchive, Fortepan, we tried to get a glimpse of how Hungarian civil society spent Christmas holidays during those years while soldiers fought life-and-death battles on the front lines.
Szeged, Hungary. A group photo from 1939, a few months after WWII broke out. Hungary joined the conflict only in 1941 after declaring war on the Soviet Union on June 26. Photo: Fortepan/Zsuzsa Kelemen
Group photo from 1939. Photo: Fortepan/Tibor Erky-Nagy
Presents under the Christmas tree in 1940. Photo: Fortepan/György Széman
Child with his christmas present in 1940. Photo: Fortepan/Péter Karabélyos
Christmas cigarette ad from 1941. Photo: Fortepan/Tivadar Lissák
Group photo from 1941. Photo:Fortepan/Noémi Saly
1941. Photo: Fortepan
Soldiers around the Christmas tree in 1942. Photo: Fortepan/Lajos Miklós
Children with their christmas presents in 1942. Photo: Fortepan/Tivadar Lissák
Group photo from 1943. Photo: Fortepan
Father with his sons, Pécs, 1944. Photo: Fortepan/Dr. Csaba Varga
Featured photo via Fortepan/Lajos Miklós